The Griffin

Israhel van Meckenem after Martin Schongauer

Associated Names
Israhel van Meckenem

Artist, German, c. 1445 - 1503

Martin Schongauer

Artist After, German, c. 1450 - 1491

This is a print of a creature with attributes of a bird and mammal. The creature has the head of a bird with a sharp beak, feathered wings, and a mammal’s body with a tail that curls upwards. Its front legs look like those of a bird, while its back legs look like those of a horse or donkey. The creature’s beak is open, and its long tongue is sticking out. The print highlights the creature’s feathers, fur, and muscles. The letters "I.M.C" appear below the creature.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    engraving on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    sheet (trimmed within platemark): 11.4 × 11.4 cm (4 1/2 × 4 1/2 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1946.21.141

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Lehrs, Vol. 9, p.386, no. 494, State only

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Eldridge R. Johnson [1867-1945], Moorestown, NJ; (his sale, Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, 3 April 1946, no. 62); purchased by Lessing J. Rosenwald [1891-1979], 1946; gift to NGA, 1946.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1967

  • Fifteenth Century Engravings of Northern Europe from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., NGA, 1967-1968, no. 200, repro.

Bibliography

1908

  • Lehrs, Max. Geschichte und kritischer Katalog des deutschen, niederlandischen und franzosischen Kupferstichs im XV. Jahrhundert. 9 vols. and 1 plate vol. Vienna: Gesellschaft fur vervielfaltigende Kunst, 1908-1934.

1949

  • Hollstein, F.W.H. et al. German engravings, etchings and woodcuts ca. 1400-1700. 8 vols. Amsterdam: Menno Hertzberger, 1954-1868. Dutch and Flemish etchings, engravings and woodcuts, ca. 1450-1700. Vols. I-XV, XVIII, XIX. Amsterdam: Menno Hertzberge

1967

  • Shestack, Alan. Fifteenth Century Engravings of Northern Europe from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.. Exh. cat. Washington: National Gallery of Art, 1967: no. 200.

1990

  • Russell 1990, no. 117.

Watermarks

none

Wikidata ID

Q65073771

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